Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation earns Rs18.42 lakh from the toy train in May 2009.
Atal Express, the toy train at Kankaria Lake Front, has received an overwhelming response from the visitors. Around 46.82 lakh people visited the Kankaria Lake Front from January to December 2009, out of which 8.64 lakh took a pleasure ride in Atal Express.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has collected Rs5.67 crore as entry fee from the visitors to the Kankaria Lake Front last year. Kankaria witnessed around 6.95 lakh visitors in May 2009 which is the highest in any month last year, followed by 5.06 lakh visitors in October.
Though, February 2009 recorded highest number of people riding Atal Express, May topped the list in terms of income fetch by the toy train with Rs18.42 lakh. Explaining the contradiction, deputy municipal commissioner Captain Dilip Mahajan said that in the first two months - January and February - many people got free ride of the toy train as part of promotion programmes.
It should be noted that the civic body has decided to bring another train at Kankaria following the buoyant response from the visitors. "Many visitors had to return without riding the Atal Express during vacations and other holidays. Moreover, long queues were seen at the ticket windows. This is the reason why we have decided to import one more toy train from United Kingdom," said Mahajan. He said that the income and number of visitors during one year of fortification of Kankaria Lake Front showed that people have accepted the new system.
Earlier, following a petition filed by the Kankaria Mukti Abhiyan, the Gujarat high court had restrained AMC from utilising the funds generated by the entry fee. The court directed the AMC to open a bank account for the fund and deposit the money collected as entry fee.
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